I am Ruth

The themes to this series are all the same. 5 dragging tales of needy whiney neurotic angst ridden females. The only one worth watching was I am Kirsty with the excellent Samantha Morton which at least had some kind of point/plot.

The rest are just annoying dire and completely depressing.

I love British drama exactly for what makes it what it is, the hardcore, in-your-face realism. But this!? Some episodes are like, socio-horror if there's such a genre. To the point where it's not enjoyable anymore; I did come very close to turning it off on at least two occasions, luckily there is some let-up in the end with some of them like in series 1 episode 2 there's a somewhat positive outcome. So, it achieves really well what it sets out to do, but do we really want to watch for entertainment what already goes on in real life?

I am... a well-off, straight, woman. There's variation in the writing, of course there is. The actors are all brilliant and they are all falling apart in different ways. The protrstyals are brilliant. But there is still a lack of variation and breadth with none of the characters being gay. Seems like a weird oversight.

'I am' comprises two series of short dramas with female leads written by Dominic Savage; I've only seen the second of these. They're not badly written (indeed, in some ways, 'I am Maria' is superbly written (and acted, by Lesley Manville) but I didn't love the format. It tells us of the end of a marriage; while 'I am Victoria' tells of a woman breaking down under the pressure to be percieved as living her best life. But in both of these films, it felt like I was watching only the last chapter of a larger story; it was hard to place my sympathy when being shown only the final act. 'I am Danielle' is a more complete tale but in some ways quite schematic. I've seen many good movies that are only 80 minutes; but these films felt like snapshots more than they did narratives.

A really good trilogy showing the lives of different characters and how they deal with different scenarios. All were a good watch but found Kirsty's story the most gripping. Shows how life can be changed so easily and gripping and sometimes uncomfortable to watch. Glad to hear there is a second series of these coming out.